The Houston Texans' offense is known for its "Big Three" ... but is that really the case anymore?

Quarterback Matt Schaub is playing at an All-Pro level, and Arian Foster is entrenched as the NFL's preeminent workhorse back. Wide receiver Andre Johnson is supposed to complete this trinity. He hasn't carried his share of the weight through five games.

Johnson was largely neutralized Monday night by the New York Jets' Antonio Cromartie, a good, but not great, cornerback. NFL.com and NFL Network's Michael Lombardi wrote in his latest "Front Office View" column that Johnson "does not look like the same player."

Wrote Lombardi: "Johnson cannot run, burst or make sharp cuts, which has been the case since his hamstring injury."

Johnson's decreased production supports Lombardi's opinion. Through Week 5, Johnson has 17 receptions for 286 yards and two touchdowns. By way of comparison, here was Johnson's statline through five games in 2009, the last time he played 16 games: 28 receptions, 437 yards and four touchdowns.

Johnson still can produce, but at 31, it's fair to wonder if his best days are behind him.

Now granted, these are just opinions from the NFL network, but over the years, Mike Lombardi has been pretty fair with the Texans. But I myself was kinda surprised that Schaub couldn't find AJ on a night when Revis wasn't playing.

Now granted, these are just opinions from the NFL network, but over the years, Mike Lombardi has been pretty fair with the Texans. But I myself was kinda surprised that Schaub couldn't find AJ on a night when Revis wasn't playing.

As much as it sucks to admit it, he's right to a degree. Big players show up in big games and 'Dre all but disappeared on Monday night. Those 2 gimme balls he dropped should have never happened. That was him, not Schaub. 'Dre looked pretty frustrated with the way that he was being covered. He was looking defeated after one play where he was in the back of the end zone. He should have made adjustments to his game since Cromartie had a good game plan coming in.

I'm not saying he doesn't have anything left in the tank, but he is on the decline. He's 31 and that's no spring chicken in professional football. Losing a step at his position is detrimental to his game & the team. I'm not saying bench him, but we better have his heir apparent on the roster or draft him next year.

__________________If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse.

The next time he gets something right about the Texans will be his first time.

He's a generalist that has a terrible feel for the Texans...often what he writes is completely off base.

As for these comments, I'm not sure how he can judge that from the games to date. The Texans haven't had to target AJ much because they've had so many leads, playing against bad offenses that they need to take few risks against. They are also not playing him as many snaps, working the new guys in.

So that combo of things means few needs to unleash AJ this season so far. There was a little bit in the Denver game, mostly because they were facing the Peyton, wanted to get some points on the board, maybe take a few more risks.

Instead if blaming Andre or any particular player it sure seems Texans have yet to find their rhythm. This offense is pedicated on timing & so far either teams have found a way to be desruptive or it's still early in the season. Watch the film it doesn't lie, can anyone say this is a well oiled machine? The defense has played ahead of schedule now without Cushing this will cause a drop off on defense, so I'm hoping the offense regains both timing & rhythm Andre included.

In my opinion, Lombardi's right, Andre definitely isn't the same, and probably will never be what he was.

But that doesn't matter, because we're 5-0 still.

Andre has given us his entire NFL career, years of spectacular seasons of the best WR in the league. And now it's the rest of the team's turn to carry him, and that's what's been happening so far.

Andre's more frustrated about it than anyone else, you can see it on his face. He'll likely continue to decline. But you can guarantee he'll have something special left in the tank for when it matters most this season.

I think it's hard to say what's going on. I certainly don't think Lombardi has the necessary information to say AJ is in decline. Enough to suggest it's possible? Sure. As as has been pointed out the team just doesn't rely on him the way they once did but when he's needed he's been there, at least up until this year. This year he's mostly been quiet and we can't say yet whether it's because of AJ or because of the way the games are shaking out. The Texans seem to be trying to keep him healthy for the stretch run and they seem to be doing it by using all their other weapons. I don't see what's wrong with that other than that it creates the situation we're in now where everyone wants to know what's wrong with AJ.

If his production doesn't improve, would the FO be justified in asking him to take a pay cut next season? For a team with salary cap issues it'd be hard to continue paying him at an elite level when his play on the field doesn't translate....

If his production doesn't improve, would the FO be justified in asking him to take a pay cut next season? For a team with salary cap issues it'd be hard to continue paying him at an elite level when his play on the field doesn't translate....

No they wouldn't. Until they find someone even close to his talent level he is the best we have. And please don't say Lestar Jean.

Instead if blaming Andre or any particular player it sure seems Texans have yet to find their rhythm. This offense is pedicated on timing & so far either teams have found a way to be desruptive or it's still early in the season. Watch the film it doesn't lie, can anyone say this is a well oiled machine? The defense has played ahead of schedule now without Cushing this will cause a drop off on defense, so I'm hoping the offense regains both timing & rhythm Andre included.

Schaub has been money thus far, so I won't say a word about the pass game. I think the run game averaging less than 4 yards a carry is the biggest "problem" right now. There hasn't been much to bicker about when it comes to throwing the ball, but running the football is not top notch currently.

As the season wears on, the run game will get better, and the offense will kill ever more. This is why good teams don't peak in October.

Doc called this one as soon as he found out the procedure that Andre was having done. He said that there was a good chance he would never get his explosion back.

i seem to remember that as well. andre opted for the short term fix with a reduced effectiveness long term. he certainly has looked a lot slower and shows zero explosion. what i'm having more trouble with is he doesnt seem like himself in less physical ways, almost looking dejected out there. he even said as much week 1 if i remember correctly.

I don't care what writers say,especially Lombardi. Dre is still better than a majority of the WRs in the NFL. Has he lost a step? Sure. Hes still one bad dude though. He is and always be my football player ever.

Andre was targeted 10, 4, 4, 6, 6 times so far with 2 red zone targets and one conversion for a TD.

His total targets are down from his average weeks 2-5, which is likely a result of defenses taking away AJ in favor of our TEs whose targets are up this year on average, and Kevin Walter, who has almost twice as many targets as this time last year.

If his production doesn't improve, would the FO be justified in asking him to take a pay cut next season? For a team with salary cap issues it'd be hard to continue paying him at an elite level when his play on the field doesn't translate....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan

No they wouldn't. Until they find someone even close to his talent level he is the best we have. And please don't say Lestar Jean.

If you don't think Rick Smith has the stones to make AJ the next salary cap casualty, you must not remember what he did with Demeco Ryans.

AJ has dropped passes worth 120+ yds and 2 TD's so far, i.e. enough to close the gap on the stats Lombardi is using. That is where he has been off and it doesn't have anything to do with his legs or age. Throughout his career he has hit these little dropsy streaks and then he snaps out of it and starts making circus catches.

Doc called this one as soon as he found out the procedure that Andre was having done. He said that there was a good chance he would never get his explosion back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scooter

i seem to remember that as well. andre opted for the short term fix with a reduced effectiveness long term. he certainly has looked a lot slower and shows zero explosion. what i'm having more trouble with is he doesnt seem like himself in less physical ways, almost looking dejected out there. he even said as much week 1 if i remember correctly.

As I've posted before, the semitendinosus muscle which was released, may be small but it has been shown to contribute to explosiveness and stability of the knee.

Here are comments I posted in the past week.:

Quote:

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

Besides significantly limiting the plays that they target him, if you notice his routes are essentially avoiding acute cuts/curls/change of direction. They are straight-line or gentle angles. In their game play plans they are definitely showing sensitivity to avoiding moves that will encourage recurrence of hamstring, knee and ankle problems, while trying to further protect him from further aggravating his ongoing groin problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

If you've watched AJ carefully this year, he has basically run straight line routes or routes with gently angles. You haven't seen his signature sharp curl back or acute cut angle routes. In this last game, he was ahead of his defender going down the sideline and Schaub threw short. AJ was looking back (as was the defender) and was fully aware that it was falling short right into the hands of the defender. Yet he made no attempt to stop acutely to go back for the ball to break up a potential interception.........an over the back move that he has always been known for in the past. And this is only one of many examples. All of these observations go to the question of knee stability, something that I voiced concern over following his injuries last year, specifically with the decision made to surgically clip the partially torn semitendinosus hamstring muscle (a small muscle shown to contribute to knee stability and explosiveness), in order to be able to get him back on the field for the playoffs. He appears to be avoiding maneuvers that require heavy side-to-side stresses on his knees. It seems like game planning for AJ is being designed to exactly use only certain types of routes.......again to avoid exposing his knee instability problem and its limitations, at the same time trying to protect him from major re-injury.

After 5 weeks, FootballOutsiders has him at only 28th in WR ranking, with Walter right there with him at 29th. (No other Texans receivers are ranked in the top 93) http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/wr

I am certainly in no way advocating that we cast AJ aside. I am only saying that in order to be valuable, he may need to play within certain parameters due to presence of some physical limitations and for purposes of minimizing risk of re-injury. To date, his play and the play-calling seems to be consistent with the observations.

AJ has dropped passes worth 120+ yds and 2 TD's so far, i.e. enough to close the gap on the stats Lombardi is using. That is where he has been off and it doesn't have anything to do with his legs or age. Throughout his career he has hit these little dropsy streaks and then he snaps out of it and starts making circus catches.

I know at least one of those TD drops was the result of the CB covering him hitting the ball with his foot and knocking it out of his hands at the last second. Either way I hope you are right, it seems like some of the drops this year are throws that Jacoby could have caught. AJ just looks different out there, his body language, some of the things hes said, hes just down on himself. Hope hes a Texan till he retires though, I wasn't happy with getting rid of Meco and I wouldn't be happy with cutting AJ either, money and cap room is one thing but players notice how you treat your former all-stars who have lost a step.